


Lily

by khilari



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Future Fic, Kid Fic, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 17:04:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1718093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khilari/pseuds/khilari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agatha and Tarvek have had a fight, their daughter is upset, and it's Gil's turn to be the sensible parent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lily

‘Giiiiil!’ The wail made Gil put down the miniature generator he was building in time for the five-year-old girl racing across the room to throw herself across his lap. He petted her red hair for a moment.

‘What’s wrong, Lily?’ he asked.

She sobbed and swung her feet off the floor, kicking them vaguely behind her. ‘Mummy made the Castle attack Tarvek.’

‘What?’ Gil looked up, unable to help focussing on the ceiling even after all this time. ‘Castle, if you’ve actually hurt him Agatha will _dismantle_ you once she calms down.’

‘I know,’ said the Castle. ‘She’s far too soft-hearted about both of you. He’s in the west dungeon. Alive and unharmed.’

That…was probably as good as it was going to get, and it wasn’t as if this sort of thing hadn’t happened before when Agatha really lost her temper. Gil scooped Lily up to sit her on his lap properly. ‘See. He’ll be okay. And she never stays angry long.’

Lily buried her head against his shoulder. ‘It was my fault,’ she whispered.

‘What did you do?’ Gil asked. ‘Um…that is, I’m pretty sure you can’t have done anything to cause that.’

‘I built a mimmera,’ said Lily.

‘You built a what?’ Gil asked.

‘It’s like a chimera,’ said Lily, sounding a bit less wobbly and more like herself. ‘Only I made it out of really little things. Like a mimmoth and a bat and a mouse and a slow worm.’

‘That sounds pretty cool,’ said Gil. Lily had always been interested in science, which was to be expected with her family, but that was rather advanced. ‘Did the Castle help.’

‘A little bit,’ said Lily. ‘But not mostly.’ She sniffed. ‘I dropped it and it ran away.’

‘You can ask the Jägers to look for it,’ said Gil. ‘I’d like to see it.’

Lily looked at him. ‘You’re not mad?’

‘No,’ said Gil. He added, gently, ‘Was Tarvek mad?’

She nodded and squirmed around on his lap. ‘There’s something else,’ she said, in a rush, the way she always did when she decided to own up to something she’d been hoping to get away with. ‘Only I think it might be really bad and I don’t know why because Mummy does it.’

Gil felt a cold feeling open up in the pit of his stomach. Maybe the Castle hadn’t helped her with the mimmera after all. ‘Show me,’ he said.

She closed her eyes and started humming, voice a little shaky at first, and then falling into a rhythm that seemed to soothe her. It was the same strange, atonal noise that Gil had grown to associate with Agatha, and he didn’t stop Lily when she kept going. It was minutes before she blinked her eyes open with a faraway look in them.

‘Is it bad?’ she asked, sounding a bit uncertain again but no longer tearful and still a bit detached. ‘Tarvek said I shouldn’t be doing it yet.’

‘I expect he did,’ muttered Gil, running a hand through his hair. No wonder Agatha had freaked out at him. Gil hoped they were both okay, but he couldn’t exactly leave Lily to go after them.

‘Do…do you think I should too? I’m not sure I can stop it makes…so many ideas in my head…’

‘No, you can’t stop it,’ Gil said. He wondered if his father had felt like this when faced with a sudden explosion of raspberry jam. At least she hadn’t blown anything up yet. ‘Do you know what breakthrough is?’

‘Becoming a Spark?’ said Lily.

‘Yep,’ said Gil, trying to sound cheerful about it. Or at least less worried than he felt. ‘That’s what’s happening to you.’

‘But you and Mummy and Tarvek are Sparks!’ said Lily indignantly, as if they’d denied her chocolates when she knew they’d been eating them.

‘Breakthrough’s dangerous,’ said Gil, ruffling her hair. ‘Especially for children.’ And for those around them. But explaining what Tarvek’s sister had done to their mother during hers — like explaining why Agatha was so angry at the idea of trying to stop a breakthrough — was something he’d rather do when Lily was a lot older, if she ever needed to hear it at all.

‘Like going out on the roof?’ Lily asked.

‘Not exactly,’ said Gil, not sure whether he should fight down an amused smile or not. ‘Tarvek was right about that.’ There had been a rather spectacular argument after Tarvek found her out there between the Castle — which pointed out that Lily still had a mother with two fine consorts and a younger brother and therefore the line was in no danger and she could do what she liked — and Tarvek — who pointed out that she was _five_ what the _heck_. The Castle had been extremely miffed when Agatha took Tarvek’s side. ‘But this is going to happen whether he likes it or not and I don’t think it’s good for you to try and stop it. Just try to think and ask us if you have any ideas that seem…really fun…’

‘Oh,’ said Lily. ‘I have lots of them.’ Her eyes were looking a little starry, but she flicked them down and looked seriously at Gil again. ‘Is Tarvek going to be mad, though? About me being a Spark?’

Gil hugged her. ‘He’s just worried. He’ll get over it.’

She nodded and wiped her eyes. ‘So, if I tell you my fun ideas I can do them?’

‘I will tell you that _after_ you tell me what they are,’ said Gil, firmly. And then, when he’d got her on a track that wouldn’t blow them all up, he’d see if he could get Adam and Lilith to watch her while he went to find Tarvek and Agatha.


End file.
